Two jailed for combined 15 years for sexual abuse of teenagers in Rotherham
The pair have been sentenced over offences which happened 25 years ago
Two men have been jailed for a combined 15 years for sexually abusing teenage girls in Rotherham over two decades ago.
Kessur Ajaib, 44, and Mohammed Makhmood, 43, were sentenced to 8.5 years and 7 years behind bars respectively, for the rape of one victim between 1999 and 2002.
A third man, Sageer Hussain, 40, was sentenced on November 11to an additional three years in prison.
Hussain, who was already serving a 19-year sentence for rape, was convicted of raping a separate victim.
The victims were aged between 13 and 16 at the time of the offences, which were uncovered during the National Crime Agency's Operation Stovewood investigation into child sexual abuse and exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
During the trial, the court heard harrowing details of the assaults.
One of the victims was raped on separate occasions by Ajaib and Makhmood.
Following the attack, Makhmood spat at the victim, called her derogatory names, and laughed at her. The other victim was trapped and attacked in an alleyway by Hussain when he was 14 or 15 years old.
Both women provided testimony through video-recorded interviews and witness statements, which, along with other evidence, led to guilty verdicts for the offenders.
Liz Fell from the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Ajaib, Hussain, and Makhmood deliberately exploited the victims’ vulnerabilities, abusing them in the most appalling way and leaving a lasting impact on two women who they callously targeted and mistreated as children. "
"These defendants have now been held accountable for their horrific crimes. I want to once again thank both women for their immense courage in coming forward and staying engaged throughout the legal process. Their determination and strength in seeing this case through has been crucial in bringing these offenders to justice."
Alan Hastings, the National Crime Agency’s senior investigating officer, also commended the bravery of the victims:
"I would like to recognise how courageous the victim was in reporting the sexual abuse that Kessur Ajaib and Mohammed Makhmood subjected her to as a child.
"It must have been extremely difficult for the woman to relive that period in her life, but the information she shared enabled us to identify corroborating evidence and secure justice for her."